January 21, 2022 – Our review article entitled “Common potato disease symptoms: ambiguity of symptom-based identification of causal pathogens and value of on-site molecular diagnostics” was published in Journal of General Plant Pathology.
How to cite:
Mora-Romero GA, Félix-Gastélum R, Bomberger RA, Romero-Urías C, Tanaka K (2022) Common potato disease symptoms: ambiguity of symptom-based identification of causal pathogens and value of on-site molecular diagnostics. Journal of General Plant Pathology 88: 89-104.
doi:10.1007/s10327-021-01045-2
Abstract:
Because symptoms of plant diseases are often ambiguous for identifying the causal pathogen, chemical applications and cultural managements are occasionally applied against the wrong target and/or at the wrong time. Some diseases are difficult to diagnose due to latent or absent characteristic symptoms. For example, diseases caused by soil-borne pathogens may elicit aboveground symptoms that are not unique and that often appear at later stages. Here, we describe common potato disease symptoms, highlighting the ambiguity of symptom-based identification of causal pathogens, which leads to misdiagnosis. We also discuss on-site molecular detection as an important element for implementing disease management strategies. Because curative treatments do not exist for many plant diseases, rapid, accurate diagnosis early in the infection is important for disease control. We emphasize that scrupulous attention to symptom similarities is required to determine etiology and provide insight into effective pathogen identification and disease diagnosis.